Documentary Traces the Extraordinary Life of Maya Arulpragasm (aka M.I.A.) from Refugee to Pop Star

New York & Los Angeles (July 26, 2018) – Abramorama and Cinereach released the trailer today for the kinetic and timely, documentary film “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” which hits theaters in the U.K. on September 21 and the U.S. on September 28. The highly anticipated film chronicles the extraordinary rise to fame of M.I.A. the British musician (Paper Planes, Galang, Bad Girls) and human rights advocate, weaving a stunning story of identity, creativity and resilience.

Activist, mother, and style icon Maya Arulpragasam has been nominated for an Academy Award (for “Slumdog Millionaire”), a Grammy Award and The Mercury Prize. Raised in Sri Lanka, an 11-year-old Arulpragasam immigrated to the U.K. with her mother and siblings to escape the violence of Civil War. Drawn from a cache of never-before-seen personal video recordings from the past 22 years, director Steve Loveridge’s “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.” is an intimate and eye-opening profile of M.I.A.’s remarkable trajectory from young Tamil refugee to global pop star.

The film originally premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award, and has since screened at festivals across the U.S. including opening New Directors/New Films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and internationally at Berlin, Hotdocs and beyond. The film is scored by Paul Hicks and George Harrison’s son, Dhani Harrison.

Abramorama is distributing the film in the U.S., Elevation Pictures will be distributing the film in Canada. Dogwoof will be releasing in the UK and handling international sales.

About Cinereach
Cinereach is an independent film company dedicated to the development, production, and financing of vital, artful films. In addition to “Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.”, recent Cinereach productions include “Sorry to Bother You,” “We the Animals,” “Beach Rats” and “Brimstone & Glory.” The company has also supported over 200 films through grants and other adaptive funding, including the recent titles “Monsters and Men,” “Shirkers,” “The Florida Project,” and “Strong Island.” www.cinereach.org

About Abramorama
Abramorama is the preeminent global theatrical distribution and rights management partner for music films today and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work on award winning feature films. An innovator in the focused, personalized form of film distribution and event cinema, Abramorama provides invaluable alternatives to filmmakers and content owners. An industry leader in marketing, promotion, and distribution, Abramorama continues to trail-blaze exciting new pathways for filmmakers to find their audience.

Over the course of more than 15 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including Ron Howard’s Grammy Award-winning “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years;” Amir Bar-Lev’s “Long Strange Trip – The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead;” Tabbert Fiiller’s “The Public Image Is Rotten;” David Leland’s “Concert for George;” Danny Clinch and Pearl Jam’s “Lets Play Two;” Paul Dugdale and Myles Desenberg’s “Above & Beyond Acoustic – Giving Up The Day Job;” Corbett Redford and Green Day’s “Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk;” John Scheinfeld’s “Chasing Trane – The John Coltrane Documentary;” Sam Pollard’s “Two Trains Runnin’;” Brett Bern’s” BANG! The Bert Berns Story;” Brett Morgen and National Geographic’s seminal Jane; Charles Ferguson’s “Time To Choose;” Asif Kapadia’s “Senna;” Neil Young’s “Greendale;” Cameron Crowe’s “Pearl Jam Twenty;” Sacha Gervasi’s “Anvil! The Story of Anvil;” Banksy’s Academy Award nominated “Exit Through the Gift Shop;” the surprise indie hit “Awake: The Life of Yogananda;” Laurie Anderson’s astonishing New York Times critics’ pick, “Heart of a Dog;” Showtime’s National Board of Review Winner “Listen to Me Marlon;” and Draft House Releasing’s 2016 Documentary Academy Award-nominee and IDA Best Documentary Winner “The Look of Silence.” Abramorama is a founding partner of The Seventh Art Standprogram, an act of cinematic solidarity against Islamophobia, that ran in more than 50 theaters across the United States in May of 2017. Abramorama recently launched its music-centric film fund focused on the global release of iconic music documentaries.

Get the Newsletter

Signup for a FREE membership

Follow

Celluloid Junkie is the leading online resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business. Join a growing community of film and cinema industry professionals from around the world who rely on CJ to provide the latest news, insights, analysis, interviews, and research on the motion picture industry.

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies.OK